David Frerker (far left) lets LJ students Savannah
Putnam and Dylan Fong hold his long zoom lens
and look through it during halftime. The two students
are taking Multimedia class on campus.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
David Frerker renewed his relationship with La Jolla High football Friday night, August 29, shooting the Vikings' game at home against Patrick Henry.
Frerker, a former LJHS football player himself, annually makes the trek to walk along the sidelines and takes photos of the action on the field.
He is a professional sports photographer. On Friday night, he revealed, "I have a rare eye disease called keratoconus. I learned how to take photos with my non-dominant eye, and my brain was able to adapt and make my vision work, despite the disease," as we were talking during the game.
In multiple years of our taking photos of the Vikings together, he had never mentioned this. It is quite a story of fortitude and grit to follow his dream to pursue sports photography.
Frerker, who looks like the former lineman that he was years ago for LJHS, told me earlier in the game, "USA Today Sports made me their number-two photographer for MLB." That's a step up from his status two years ago, when he described a painful Padres game in which he knelt on hard ground in the stands at Petco Park (he hadn't brought any kneepads), having to keep an eye on his expensive camera equipment with fans only a short distance away. It was a tough job, but that was part of being a lower-rung photog trying to get in the good graces of USA Today Sports and work his way up.
"I was credentialed last fall for the Padres in the NLDS, NLCS, and World Series, but the Padres didn't make it all the way," he said proudly, the guy with the most media passes on the sidelines.
We often talk and catch his updates of his latest exploits, as he, Tom Bardaro, Nico's father, and I talk and listen and share what photos we've taken lately--though wowed by the ones that David takes.
A year ago, he shot photos of the Lakers' preseason exhibition in Palm Desert. To meet his deadline for turning in his photos, he had had his car rigged up with Wifi and the ability to transmit photos. While his friend drove back from Palm Desert in boiling heat, Frerker madly processed his images on his laptop in the car and sent them in on time.
He arrived at the Vikings' football game that Friday night, having just gotten back from the desert. It sounded like a harried rush to and from Palm Desert, but for him altogether worth it. Telling us the story was part of the rush, I'm sure.
Frerker also takes photos of the San Diego Wave, USD, and other local pro and college teams.
